RPG cliches

Hey I was watching this video on youtube the other day, and this guy was talking about rpg cliches, for those who don't know, a cliche is something that is repetitive, so this is a thread about repetitive things in RPG's, here are some examples:

More than half the games when you play, the main character says NOTHING. And then the other party members still understand what your saying.(EX:Chrono Trigger)


The female's always have a staff or rod of some sort most of the time.

All legends are 100% accurate, all rumors are entirely factual, all prophecies will come true, and not just some day, but almost immediately. And what I mean by that is, is if you go into a town and talk to a town's person who say's "legend/rumor has it there is a ghost in the cave down the prairie", there WILL be a ghost in that area!!!!!

You can always hold like 99 of every item and never run out of room for it on your body.

Most villain's in Rpg's posess some form of teleportation, and they generally use it when the adventurers reach an obligatory relic room and steal all the jewels just before you can, even though they could have just teleported there and got them before you even entered the dungeon.


And my favorite, is how the worlds are made, one half of the continent has all the technology, while the other side is harvesting dirt xD.

Any more?

Most of the time characters is skimpy clothes can climb mountians in artic regions and not get frostbite, unless it's important to the story. On the other side of the coin, Mages (usally) can wear big heavy robes in deserts.
Exception: Tales of Eternia, the characters acually go and get coats.

There is a big legenday weapon that you aquire through the story, that sucks to a weapon that's at the end of a big long trading sequince. Oh yea and everyone knows of the legendary weapon and only one person knows of the better, stronger weapon and although you're trying to stop the end of the world you still have to go out of your way to get it.

Princesses that are either playable or who interact significantly with the player's character/party are almost always magically inclined.

The main villain always primarily uses magic and/or has the ability to magically transform into another type of super-creature.

A few.

AMNESIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

its the ultimate RPG cliché

others include: at least 1 person with a sword, and 1 with a staff.

magic crystals

at least 1 boss you must fight over and over again through out the game

the man character has a sword

the main character falls in love with a female character, usually higher in class than him

a final boss with an overly flashy attack

save the world

finding random save points littered across the map

thats all I can think of for now, I bet I'll post again with some more once I think of them.

*edit*

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Originally Posted by Azar

A few.

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ROFL....whoever wrote that has played wayyyy toooo many rpgs to get that many cliches

>>> Cameos everywhere..

They are all called Rpgs if some one hasnt al ready beaten me to it

yeah, these ones you guys are saying all came from that list, and that list is pretty old, but some of it is still hilarious

THE JACKEL

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Originally Posted by ljkkjlcm9

yeah, these ones you guys are saying all came from that list, and that list is pretty old, but some of it is still hilarious

THE JACKAL

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1: I didn't know about the list when I posted mine, Azar posted it while I was posting mine.

2: As shocking as it sounds, amnesia wasn't on the list, nor magic crystals, or random save points, or final boss with overly flashy attacks.

1. The main villain is confused/insane.

2. The main mage is either female or an old man.

3. All old main characters with white hair sacrifice themselves.

4. The main character uses some form of a sword.

5. The hero will protect any woman he sees, even if the aforementioned woman is somebody he met two seconds ago.

6. All people with interesting pasts are those who can't remember them.

7. Any mysterious characters from a far-off land are magically inclined.

8. Bows suck compared to nearly every other kind of weapon.

9. You will obtain some massive ultimate weapon/magic tome that will destroy most baddies in a single hit.

10. The starting boss must always be some minor villain.

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Originally Posted by Azar

A few.

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The sad thing is every one of those rules is true in the vast majority of cases.

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Originally Posted by corncracker

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Originally Posted by Azar

A few.

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The sad thing is every one of those rules is true in the vast majority of cases.

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Hence clichés.

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Originally Posted by Lone Wolf Leonhart

And my favorite, is how the worlds are made, one half of the continent has all the technology, while the other side is harvesting dirt xD.

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Look at Asia/Africa.

And that list of RPG cliches rocks.

And the reason most rumors are true is because it gives you something to do or someplace to go. Would you just like to be stuck in a town without having a smurfin' idea where to go?

A very important one is.......

There is always a dark and mysterious charachter that has every reason to not join you, morally and logically, but he does anyways.

Even if the main character goes missing at the end of the game, he will always make a comeback either at the ending FMV or in a sequel of the same game.

cliché... hmmm.

I dislike the sword wielding hero the most.

As for bows sucking.

Momo from Xenosaga etc is only 1 example that they do not suck.

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Originally Posted by Azar

A few.

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I wanted to post that. :(

"Ha ha! You thought the person you were following this whole time was the true villian? Not so! I, a random power that comes out of no where, is the true evil!"

The hero is always an orphan, or that one of his parents is dead\missing.

I wouldnt say the character not talking is a cliche; yes many follow it; BUT its done on purpose; not for any random reason. If the character doesnt talk; you can relate more to the character AS you.

A football cliche wouldnt be numbers on te Jersey; would it?

Drakengard had quite alot of non-cliche moments.

1 example is the hero could wield any type of weapon.
another is it had a guy wielding a stave thing. and that was also the hero o_o.
another is. all the endings were sad :cry: as to a happy bunnies one.
... it also had giant floating babies for monsters.

The main character almost always gets tossed into saving the world without meaning to, but yet does not seem to mind the fact that he now has the WEIGHT OF THE ENTIRE WORLD on his shoulders :)

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Originally Posted by Tsukasa

Drakengard had quite alot of non-cliche moments.

1 example is the hero could wield any type of weapon.
another is it had a guy wielding a stave thing. and that was also the hero o_o.
another is. all the endings were sad :cry: as to a happy bunnies one.
... it also had giant floating babies for monsters.

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I will never consider Drakengard to be an RPG. I don't even consider it to be a good game.

"hey the defense system doesnt work. oh no the bad guy is here"
"crap the defence system works and now i have to kill this monster"
The only times machines work is when it helps the villian

the Main hero always can do a task or challenge better than the oldest /best vetran.

Kingdoms are good, Empires are evil.

-No reason why the main character is silent

-Amnesia

-Teenage MAIN characters (Nothin against teenage characters, but teenage protaginists? I'm sick...)

-12 year olds who act and look like they are 8 (MoMo...)

-Finally, EVIL ALIENS! God, I hate it when aliens are only bad or evil. :'( I wanna weep at the developers' ignorance.

Heres a few more...

1. at least 1 flashback

2. random monsters

3. for every bad ass villan, theres an even bad asser villan controling him.

4. NPCs say the same line...over and over again

5. A party member that can't help but pull stupid jokes

6. war

7. The hero always wins

8. If the main character is male...it will end as a love story, if the main character is female...love won't be introduced at all.

9. If a middle aged woman hits on the main character, she's evil, if a teenage girl hits on the main character, shes good.

10. Somehow the party can magically become stronger by killing random things.

1. No blood.
2. Villain without love.
3. Character size in the world map sometimes is bigger than towns.
4. Random encounter in a different place. "Wait, since when did I return to the plain? I'm at the peak of the mountain!!!"

What I dont get is if some1 dies in your they can be revived with a revive item/spell. When more than 10 die that rent in your party, they stay dead.

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5. A party member that can't help but pull stupid jokes

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my personal favourite....and in ToP...it was rather original i thought....and you could only carry 15 of each item in that.....there werent many cliches.....and no happy bunnies in hte ending...maybe soem perturbed bunnies...but thats as close to bunnies as youll find...

The vendors always have an unlimited amount of potions for you to buy and they just stand in one spot.
Townspeople tell you their life stories without even asking who you are.
My major one is that the main hero aways needs to have their hair done.

ONe i love is you can walk into almost anywhere and take what you want without them saying anything against it

Yeah kind of like what the last one said, you can go into people's houses and just walk around in them and people don't really care.


Except in Breath of Fire 3, some people tell you to leave before you even get two feet in xD



(And I don't care what anyone says, Zelda too me, is considered an RPG. Just because, welll.........come on, what's different between Zelda and an RPG besides the battle system??)

level ups

uh...that thing with the strange coincidences...nevermind..i cant remember....

When people tell you to do things things do it and when they tell you not to stil do it

yeah there are a lot of cliches...cause people like em...i play rpgs to a degree because i know most of the time i'll be on an epic quest to save the world.

that's not to say that i don't want to see some variation, and that it can't be done well....look at Valkyrie Profile and other cliche-bending games...some are more well executed than others but it's also nice to see some originality.

the old stand bys in rpgs make the genre great, and fun...although at times a bit wacky or predictable.

it would be cool to do what PSM did a while ago, design a non-cliche rpg...in fact maybe i'll start a thread ...

The lead female character will always leave and put herself in a dangerous position with the main villian in order to save her friends, who all told her that she didn't have to do it and they would all pull together to help. But NO, she has to wander off and you end up having to rescue her and it's always the most obnoxious dungeon in the game.

If she is a princess, an important figure (descendant of ancient race or holds a level of authority equal to royalty) or has the magic artifact the villians need in order to carry out their plans, it's guaranteed to happen in the game.

Consequently, everyone forgives her and understands she was only trying to do what she felt was best for everyone. No one bothers to break her legs so she can't wander off anymore, nor does the older, wiser veterans in the group bother restricting her thinking privleges. This is called the Dagger/Yuna rule. It is also one of my major pet peeves in RPGs...

>>> Lost/unknown technology, Ancient ruins, Fire/Ice dungeons..
Boss clones in the final dungeon.

Same outfit, no bath.
Villain who want to destroy the world without realizing that he, too will be destroyed.
The character have no bag and can hold 99 different stuff.
The NPC will always be in the same place as he/she is yesterday.

EVIL EMPIRE.

The Law of Childhood

If your main character has a child hood friend with a real name (and for more recent games, a character portrait) they will play a major role in the main character's life depending on their sex.

If the friend is female, she is love interest. If a guy, they will become enemies because of different ideologies, brainwashing, or just plain jealosy...